Burning Crusade beta commences

The world's most popular persistent world is due an update... but not quite yet, because first Blizzard have to make sure it is going to work, with a beta test for Azeroth expansion The Burning Crusade. The game world of World of Warcraft will be expanded by the update at the end of this year, but given the millions of global players currently engrossed in the most populous online title, the developer have to get this grand extension pretty much perfect.

One of the highlights of the add-on will be the Outlands, an area dedicated to battling, which will be included alongside a host of new features. The full pack will be complete and live at some point in November... but a select few WoW citizens already have the honour of testing the new areas and features. Blizzard aren't saying how many people are taking part in the beta, but one of those eagle-eyed GameSpot writers did notice that one of the two servers being used for the test was highly populated - suggesting that The Burning Crusade can already support players en masse.

Alpha-testing began back in August, with players who signed-up for the beta being invited in waves, allowing the developer to iron out the creases gradually. More on World of Warcraft as we get it.